CANTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison in an assault on his girlfriend with a sledgehammer, which he contended was an accident.
The (Washington) Observer-Reporter says a Washington County judge imposed the sentence Wednesday on 48-year-old Paul Helmick of Canton Township.
He was convicted in July of attempted homicide in the Jan. 29 assault on 51-year-old Lori Ann Phillips.
Authorities said a neighbor heard the commotion and asked Helmick what was going on, and he replied "I killed (her) dead."
Helmick said he used the sledgehammer to beat on the apartment door and then he hit Phillips accidentally with it while shoving her aside.
Prosecutors say Phillips spent 11 days in the hospital with a fractured skull and a broken rib.